Bala was previously a Director at an infection business unit at Cellworks Research India Pvt. Ltd, where he led the discovery of new combinations for the treatment of tuberculosis. Prior to this, he spent two decades in infection research and anti-bacterial drug discovery at AstraZeneca India Pvt. Ltd and led the discovery of a clinical drug candidate for the treatment of tuberculosis. Bala served on the Board of AstraZeneca India Pvt. Ltd as Executive Director.
He is presently a member at BIRAC Grants Review, Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India and a member of the American Society for Microbiology. He previously was Co-Chair at Gordon Research Conference, TB Drug Development & Co Vice-Chair at Gordon Research Conference, TB Drug Development.